CELEBRATING 50 YEARS
OF SERVICE

The Shaker Heights Youth Center, a vital community-based organization serving students from elementary through high school, lacked a cohesive and compelling visual identity for its 50th anniversary. While the Center had long provided essential after-school programs and substance abuse education to students in the Shaker Heights School District, its existing communications—particularly its annual report—didn’t reflect the warmth, vibrancy, and legacy of its impact. The outdated materials failed to engage the broader community or convey the energy of the Youth Center’s mission.

I began working with the Youth Center in 2019, initially brought on to lead the design direction for their 50th anniversary campaign. With full creative freedom, I worked closely with the team to understand their values: community-first, youth-focused, and future-oriented. Inspired by the developmental stages of childhood, I crafted a visual system built around building blocks, incorporating bold patterns, bright complementary colors, and a thoughtful expansion of the iconic red square logo. For typography, I selected a typewriter-style font with modern edge as a nod to the tools they once used, bridging past and present. The centerpiece of this project was a complete redesign of their annual report, which now visually reflected their legacy and forward momentum.

The refreshed campaign, spanning digital assets for social media and web as well as the redesigned annual report, was met with overwhelming enthusiasm. Community members requested physical copies of the report and even asked for merchandise featuring the new designs. The campaign reintroduced the Youth Center’s identity to the public in a way that felt both nostalgic and revitalizing, effectively capturing the spirit of their next 50 years.

This project reinforced the importance of listening deeply to an organization’s history and values before building its visual future. I learned how design can become a powerful storytelling tool, not just to inform, but to inspire. Having the trust of the Youth Center to shape their public-facing materials was an honor, and it reminded me how meaningful design becomes when it reflects the people it’s made for.